On Monday, December 5, 2016, the U.S.-Japan Roundtable convened its ninth Annual Conference in Washington, DC. The overarching focus of the day was on unpacking the possible courses of action for the nuclear energy industry under a Trump presidency, as well as examining geopolitical developments in the South China Sea. To wrap up the day,however, focus was brought back to the central tenet of the U.S.-Japan nuclear alliance with an in-depth update on the Japanese nuclear sector from senior METI official Hirohide Hirai. Mr. Hirai is the Director-General for International Energy and Technology Cooperation, and also addressed the Roundtable at the 2015 conference.

Mr. Hirai’s presentation was all-encompassing, providing first an oversight of the effects of the past five years in the wake of Fukushima on carbon emissions and energy security in Japan. He then proceeded to outline the current status of the nuclear restart effort, emphasizing the ever-increasing number of reactors progressing through the inspection process of the NRA. He also covered the significant progress achieved in the past year to liberalize the Japanese energy market.
From there, Mr. Hirai shifted to a global overview, assessing the key role the U.S.-Japan partnership plays in the global nuclear energy market, as well as carbon emissions reductions. Finally, Mr. Hirai closed by providing not only an update on the current status of the Fukushima cleanup project, but by making an important announcement. Tepco has opened a site encouraging submissions of innovative proposals for Fukushima decommissioning entitled “TEPCO CUUSOO.” The platform can be reached here.

We invite you to explore Mr. Hirai’s in-depth and educational presentation in its entirety here: